Hidden Cultivation Technique

Rong City, Chengtian Martial Arts School.

"Coach Kang!"

Li Changqing, dressed in sportswear, jogged along the greenway. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"You rascal, I've been waiting for you for half an hour. Come on inside."

Li Changqing let Kang Tianchen pull him towards the martial arts hall. His Blood Essence was all coiled within his Dantian, not leaking out at all.

Forty kilometers in thirty minutes. He had broken his record again.

As Kang Tianchen grabbed him, his mastery of Listening to Strength allowed him to instantly perceive the other man's Blood Essence, which wasn't deliberately concealed.

"Lower-Rank Three-Star, Four-Star?" But Li Changqing was a little unsure.

Kang Tianchen's Blood Essence felt a bit unstable.

If Li Changqing's Blood Essence was like thick crude oil, then Kang Tianchen's was like thin mineral water, and even somewhat vaporized.

Although most of his Blood Essence, like Li Changqing's, was gathered in his Dantian, he couldn't completely condense it into a core. A portion of his Blood Essence still flowed throughout his body.

The two quickly entered the martial arts hall.

It was completely different from when Li Changqing had visited last time. The spacious training ground was packed with people, so much so that there wasn't even a place to step.

"So many people?"

"Otherwise, why do you think I was in such a hurry?" Kang Tianchen's expression was grim. Apart from the brief smile when he first saw Li Changqing, his face had been dark the entire time since they entered.

"Coach Kang, why do you seem a little unhappy?"

Kang Tianchen was silent for a moment. "Is it that obvious?"

"Your face is practically black."

Kang Tianchen: ...

"Stop with the nonsense and get in line quickly."

Kang Tianchen didn't need to say anything. Li Changqing's eyes immediately spotted the giant stone tablet in the center, surrounded by people.

Kang Tianchen sighed. "This is a martial arts scroll carved by a Psionic User. It's very precious."

Psionic Users were the dream of all Martial Artists and humanity's last trump card against unknown alien fleets.

Because after achieving Psionic Ascension, Psionic Users drew power from the Psionic Energy monsoons of Subspace, and the information contained within could only be clearly expressed through Psionic Energy.

However, even for Martial Artists, rashly coming into contact with Psionic Energy was highly dangerous. To allow Martial Artists to absorb this knowledge, Psionic Users generally used forms like painting and carving to bind powerful Psionic Energy information into Psionic Items, allowing non-Psionic Users to study them slowly.

Chen Danqing's Artistic Conception Scroll was also a lower-level application of this technique.

Psionic Stone Carving.

Li Changqing's eyes lit up. This was truly extraordinary.

His gaze swept over the crowd, landing on the three people surrounding the stone tablet.

What potent Blood Essence!

Using his powerful mental strength, which surpassed that of a Lower-Rank Martial Artist, Li Changqing sensed powerful Blood Essence from them.

However, upon closer inspection.

These three didn't seem to possess the aura of primordial beasts like Sun Sheng.

They were still lacking something.

"You're too slow. We'll have to wait until everyone else has finished looking," Kang Tianchen gestured towards the stone tablet.

"Liu Yi and the others are still observing. You'll have to wait a while longer."

Li Changqing's eyes flickered. "Coach Kang, are they the senior disciples who will represent our martial arts hall in the Youth Cup this time?"

"More or less. Among those in our martial arts hall who are of age, they are the strongest."

"Does our martial arts hall have a chance to win the championship?"

"Win the championship?" Kang Tianchen's face darkened further at the question.

"If we can make it into the top eight, it'll be a success."

As they spoke, a burly, tower-like man walked in from outside the training ground.

"Coach Kang, is this the student you were talking about?"

"Huang Xuan, why are you only arriving now?" Kang Tianchen moved aside, placing a hand on Li Changqing's shoulder.

"Let me introduce you."

"Li Changqing. This is your future senior disciple, Huang Xuan. He'll also be representing our martial arts hall in the Youth Cup this time."

"Hello, Senior Disciple Huang Xuan."

"Hahaha, I'll call you Junior Disciple Li from now on." Huang Xuan was very friendly, grabbing Li Changqing's hand for a shake.

His skin was rough, but the moment their hands touched, Li Changqing's eyebrows shot up.

This Blood Essence...

Huang Xuan's Blood Essence, both in quantity and density, was inferior to Kang Tianchen's, let alone comparable to his.

Moreover, within the opponent's Dantian, the Blood Essence didn't feel overflowing; it had only condensed into a vague sphere.

He hadn't even completed the "Embracing Dan" stage, with a large portion of his Blood Essence still in a misty state.

This indicated that Huang Xuan's efforts during the Transformation Stage were completely inadequate, leading to his imperfect state after becoming a Martial Artist.

"Junior Brother Li, you must work hard and strive to complete a full set of Tai Chi without rest next year, so you can enter the Transformation Stage quickly."

Leaning on Li Changqing's shoulder, Huang Xuan whispered, "When that time comes, your senior brother will prepare a big gift for you."

Winking at Li Changqing, Huang Xuan pushed through the crowd.

"Coach Kang, I'll be going ahead."

Seeing Huang Xuan, the other Martial Artists obediently made way.

"Senior Brother Huang doesn't have to wait in line?"

"Hahaha." Huang Xuan turned back and laughed.

"Junior Brother Li, I'm a contestant in this year's Youth Cup, so I don't need to queue."

Li Changqing tilted his head.

"Coach Kang, why don't you let me sign up too? Then we won't have to wait in line."

Before Li Changqing could finish, Kang Tianchen flicked his forehead.

"You kid talks too much. Huang Xuan is a legitimate Martial Artist, what are you?"

"I won't even mention you registering as a Martial Artist. Talk about other things when you've actually passed the Martial Arts Hall's assessment!"

After speaking, Kang Tianchen looked back at Huang Xuan.

"You kid, don't be so flippant. For this Youth Cup, don't come back without placing. You represent our Martial Arts Hall, you have to at least make it into the top 32, understand?"

"Top 32?" Huang Xuan rubbed his chin, his expression becoming slightly more serious.

"Don't worry, Coach, I'll do my best."

Li Changqing, overhearing this, was a little confused. "Coach Kang, our Martial Arts Hall is one of the only two in Rong City that has ever cultivated Psionic Users. Shouldn't we at least aim for second place and contend for the championship?"

"Aim for second? And contend for the championship?" Huang Xuan's eyes widened.

"Coach, what kind of intoxicating potion did you give little junior brother? Does he have some misunderstanding about our Martial Arts Hall?"

Kang Tianchen's expression turned grim. "Changqing, didn't I tell you before? Jixing Martial Hall, ranked first in Rong City, is a nationwide chain. They're not like us."

As he said this, Kang Tianchen's face visibly darkened, and he looked dejected.

"Over the years, our gap hasn't shrunk; it's only widened. Do you know why the Hall Master went to such great lengths to bring this Psionic Stone Carving back?"

"Huang Xuan, you tell him."

"Yeah, three days ago, we had an exchange match with them." Huang Xuan scratched his head. "We lost quite badly."

"But even if we can't win the championship or be runners-up, we should at least make it to the top four, right?" Li Changqing pointed at the three people meditating by the Stone Tablet.

"We have three people here. The top eight should be achievable."

Kang Tianchen sighed, uttering words of despair.

"In this competition, Liu Yi and the other two all lost, and we didn't even get to see Jixing Martial Hall's top contender."

Their own ace fighters couldn't even see the opponent's best.

Even Li Changqing found it hard to remain composed. Wasn't this too dire?

"Alright, Junior Brother Li, don't be too discouraged." Huang Xuan, the one who experienced it, comforted Li Changqing instead.

"The people at Jixing Martial Hall are geniuses from all over the country. Our Martial Arts Hall in Rong City doesn't compare to them. You just need to work hard yourself and strive to become a Martial Artist next year."

"Huang Xuan is right, we don't compare to them." Kang Tianchen echoed.

"Changqing, the geniuses at Jixing Martial Hall are exceptional. We don't compare to them. You just need to enter the Transformation Stage this year, and I guarantee you'll have a place in our Martial Arts Hall in the future."

Kang Tianchen's gaze fell upon the three individuals in front of the Stone Tablet.

"I hope the Stone Tablet the Hall Master brought back is useful. Putting it aside, there's still hope of defeating Jixing Martial Hall's third and fourth seats. There aren't many new students from the Academy Faction this year either, so securing a spot in the top eight shouldn't be difficult."

Li Changqing stood in place, his consciousness drifting.

Jixing Martial Hall?

A figure appeared in his mind.

Who would win in a fight between their chief and Sun Sheng?

Half an hour later.

The three senior disciples at the front finally finished their insights. With looks of sudden realization on their faces, they left in a hurry.

"Time is limited. Each martial artist participating in the Youth Cup has thirty minutes to gain insights, with five people at a time."

"The rest of the students, still five groups, five minutes per group, hurry up!"

As soon as the three senior disciples left, a coach started shouting through a loudspeaker.

The crowd sped up.

However, besides the first three senior disciples, no one else could glean anything from the stone tablet afterward.

Seeing this, many students also left.

They knew their own limits; the works of Psionic Users weren't that easy to comprehend.

By the time it was Li Changqing's turn, everyone else had left. The entire martial hall was left with just him, Kang Tianchen, and a recording coach.

"Your person?"

The coach in charge of recording recognized Kang Tianchen and immediately understood.

He pointed to his wristwatch.

"The hall master will be back in at most half an hour. You two hurry up, I'm going out for a smoke."

Soon, only Li Changqing and Kang Tianchen remained in the training hall.

"Here, go take a look." Kang Tianchen led Li Changqing to the front of the stone tablet.

"Although you probably won't be able to understand anything, just consider it a chance to see the world."

Kang Tianchen also left, leaving Li Changqing alone.

He stood in front of the stone tablet. The smooth surface was blocked by an invisible membrane.

He couldn't see the carved information clearly.

Psionic Energy.

Without any reminder, the suffocating energy instantly made Li Changqing understand what it was.

No wonder no one could comprehend it. If one's spirit couldn't resonate with this stone tablet, the psionic barrier would block all information.

Li Changqing stroked his chin. Just as he was thinking about how to resonate with the psionic energy.

Boom!

Thunder roared in his mind.

The psionic energy covering the entire stone tablet suddenly dispersed.

Even the image carved by the Psionic User lost its spirit as the psionic energy temporarily withdrew.

But it wasn't over yet. In Li Changqing's eyes, the massive stone tablet seemed to be undergoing the erosion of time, stripping away its superficial layers.

Revealing an ancient carving hidden beneath.

A simple Yin-Yang Fish twirled, falling into Li Changqing's constricting pupils.

There was something else hidden beneath the psionic item?

Before he could even think, the Yin-Yang Fish entered his mind.

[Tai Shang Gan Ying Pian (Human Immortal Department)]

He was unable to think as a torrent of information overwhelmed Li Changqing's consciousness.

The giant Yin-Yang Fish slowly twirled.